Vehicle cruise control systems are popular equipment on conventional vehicles. Recently, adaptive cruise control systems have been proposed, where, in addition to conventional factors, external factors are considered in the control of vehicle speed. Known automatic systems attempt to maintain a desired speed, set by the driver, but are capable of detecting obstacles in front of the vehicle, and are capable of adapting the vehicle speed in response thereto.
Commonly, these adaptive systems adjust vehicle speed in response to detected obstacles in such a manner as to cause speed perturbations perceptible to the driver of the vehicle. These perturbations may affect driver comfort or driver confidence in the adaptive speed control system. In the end, they can affect the marketability of adaptive speed control systems.
Conventional systems also prescribe control based on presumed driver capabilities, such that all drivers alike must succumb to the deceleration rate, brake reaction time and minimum following distance allowed by the system, if any. These parameter settings may not be consistent with the driver's preferred driving style, undermining the desirability of using the adaptive speed control system.